Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 242 / Tuesday, December 19, 2023 / Notices 87753 

and associated equipment and gear. 

NMFS collects no other information. 

III. Data 

OMB Control Number: 0648–0360. 

Form Number(s): None. 

Type of Review: Regular submission, 

extension of a current information 

collection. 

Affected Public: Business or other forprofit organizations; Individuals or 

households. 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 

324. 

Estimated Time per Response: 1.25 

hours per purse seine vessel and 0.75 

hours per other fishery vessel for vessel 

ID marking. 0.083 hours per gear 

marking. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden 

Hours: 2,337. 

Estimated Total Annual Cost to 

Public: $89,473. 

Respondent’s Obligation: Mandatory. 

Legal Authority: 50 CFR 665, 50 CFR 

300. 

IV. Request for Comments 

We are soliciting public comments to 

permit the Department/Bureau to: (a) 

Evaluate whether the proposed 

information collection is necessary for 

the proper functions of the Department, 

including whether the information will 

have practical utility; (b) Evaluate the 

accuracy of our estimate of the time and 

cost burden for this proposed collection, 

including the validity of the 

methodology and assumptions used; (c) 

Evaluate ways to enhance the quality, 

utility, and clarity of the information to 

be collected; and (d) Minimize the 

reporting burden on those who are to 

respond, including the use of automated 

collection techniques or other forms of 

information technology. 

Comments that you submit in 

response to this notice are a matter of 

public record. We will include or 

summarize each comment in our request 

to OMB to approve this Information 

Collection Request. Before including 

your address, phone number, email 

address, or other personal identifying 

information in your comment, you 

should be aware that your entire 

comment—including your personal 

identifying information—may be made 

publicly available at any time. While 

you may ask us in your comment to 

withhold your personal identifying 

information from public review, we 

cannot guarantee that we will be able to 

do so. 

Sheleen Dumas, 

Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of 

the Under Secretary for Economic Affairs, 

Commerce Department. 

[FR Doc. 2023–27861 Filed 12–18–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities; Submission to the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) for 

Review and Approval; Comment 

Request; National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS) Observer Programs’ 

Information That Can Be Gathered 

Only Through Questions 

The Department of Commerce will 

submit the following information 

collection request to the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) for 

review and clearance in accordance 

with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 

1995, on or after the date of publication 

of this notice. We invite the general 

public and other Federal agencies to 

comment on proposed, and continuing 

information collections, which helps us 

assess the impact of our information 

collection requirements and minimize 

the public’s reporting burden. Public 

comments were previously requested 

via the Federal Register on August 31, 

2023 (88 FR 60184) during a 60-day 

comment period. This notice allows for 

an additional 30 days for public 

comments. 

Agency: National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration, 

Commerce. 

Title: NMFS Observer Programs’ 

Information That Can Be Gathered Only 

Through Questions. 

OMB Control Number: 0648–0593. 

Form Number(s): None. 

Type of Request: Regular submission. 

Revision and extension of a current 

information collection. 

Number of Respondents: 2,155. 

Average Hours per Response: 

Northeast Fisheries Observer Program 

and At-Sea Monitors, 117 minutes; 

North Pacific Groundfish and Halibut 

Observer Program and Processing 

Plants, 56 minutes; Alaska Marine 

Mammal Observer Program, 15 minutes; 

West Coast Groundfish Observer 

Program, 31 minutes; Pacific Islands 

Region Observer Program, 86 minutes; 

Southeast Fishery Observer Program, 55 

minutes; West Coast Region Observer 

Program, 62 minutes. Information will 

be collected for observed fishing trips 

and deployments to fish processing 

plants; therefore, there will be multiple 

responses for some respondents, but 

counted as one response per trip or 

plant visit. 

Total Annual Burden Hours: 15,728. 

Needs and Uses: This is a request for 

revision and extension of an existing 

information collection. 

The National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

National Marine Fisheries Service 

(NMFS) deploys fishery observers on 

United States (U.S.) commercial fishing 

vessels and to fish processing plants in 

order to collect biological and economic 

data. NMFS has at least one observer 

program in each of its five Regions. 

These observer programs provide the 

most reliable and effective method for 

obtaining information that is critical for 

the conservation and management of 

living marine resources. Observer 

programs primarily obtain information 

through direct observations by 

employees or agents of NMFS; and such 

observations are not subject to the 

Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA). 

However, observer programs also collect 

the following information that requires 

clearance under the PRA: (1) 

Standardized questions of fishing vessel 

captains/crew or fish processing plant 

managers/staff, which include gear and 

performance questions, safety questions, 

and trip costs, crew size and other 

economic questions; (2) questions asked 

by observer program staff/contractors to 

plan observer deployments; (3) forms 

that are completed by observers and that 

fishing vessel captains are asked to 

review and sign; (4) questionnaires to 

evaluate observer performance; and (5) 

a form to certify that a fisherman is the 

permit holder when requesting observer 

data from the observer on the vessel. 

The information collected will be 

used to: (1) Monitor catch and bycatch 

in federally managed commercial 

fisheries; (2) understand the population 

status and trends of fish stocks and 

protected species, as well as the 

interactions between them; (3) 

determine the quantity and distribution 

of net benefits derived from living 

marine resources; (4) predict the 

biological, ecological, and economic 

impacts of existing management action 

and proposed management options; and 

(5) ensure that the observer programs 

can safely and efficiently collect the 

information required for the previous 

four uses. In particular, these biological 

and economic data collection programs 

contribute to legally mandated analyses 

required under the Magnuson-Stevens 

Fishery Conservation and Management 

Act (MSA), the Endangered Species Act 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1
87754 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 242 / Tuesday, December 19, 2023 / Notices 

1https://www.congress.gov/112/plaws/publ211/ 

PLAW-112publ211.pdf. 

2https://wipolex.wipo.int/en/text/288773. 

(ESA), the Marine Mammal Protection 

Act (MMPA), the National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the 

Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), as well 

as a variety of state statutes. The 

confidentiality of the data will be 

protected as required by the MSA, 

Section 402(b). 

This collection will be revised as 

follows. First is the expansion of 

observers to include an additional 

fishery. The Southeast region will begin 

sending observers out on Southeast reef 

fish fishery trips and thus needs to add 

this fishery to this collection. Second, 

NOAA is combining the Southeast 

observer efforts into one program. The 

third change is the West Coast 

Groundfish Observer Program (WCGOP) 

would like to start collecting the names 

of crew members within their observer 

logbooks. The data will be recorded on 

paper, scanned in, and stored according 

to vessel name. This information will 

only be accessed if there is an 

enforcement issue. The final change is 

also within the West Coast Groundfish 

Observer Program. They have 

introduced a new phone app that 

captains are using to declare upcoming 

fishing trips and NMFS is using to let 

them know if they have been selected 

for observer coverage. Other observer 

programs are also working on 

converting to smart phone apps, but 

they have not yet been implemented. 

Affected Public: Business or other forprofit organizations. 

Frequency: On occasion. 

Respondent’s Obligation: Voluntary. 

Legal Authority: The MagnusonStevens Fishery Conservation and 

Management Act (MSA), the 

Endangered Species Act (ESA), 

Executive Order 12866 (E.O. 12866), 

and the Marine Mammal Protection Act 

(MMPA). 

This information collection request 

may be viewed at www.reginfo.gov. 

Follow the instructions to view the 

Department of Commerce collections 

currently under review by OMB. 

Written comments and 

recommendations for the proposed 

information collection should be 

submitted within 30 days of the 

publication of this notice on the 

following website www.reginfo.gov/ 

public/do/PRAMain. Find this 

particular information collection by 

selecting ‘‘Currently under 30-day 

Review—Open for Public Comments’’ or 

by using the search function and 

entering either the title of the collection 

or the OMB Control Number 0648–0593. 

Sheleen Dumas, 

Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of 

the Under Secretary for Economic Affairs, 

Commerce Department. 

[FR Doc. 2023–27834 Filed 12–18–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

Patent and Trademark Office 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities; Submission to the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) for 

Review and Approval; Comment 

Request; International Design 

Applications (Hague Agreement) 

AGENCY: United States Patent and 

Trademark Office, Department of 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of information collection; 

request for comment. 

SUMMARY: The United States Patent and 

Trademark Office (USPTO), as required 

by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 

1995, invites comments on the 

extension and revision of an existing 

information collection: 0651–0075 

International Design Applications 

(Hague Agreement). The purpose of this 

notice is to allow 60 days for public 

comment preceding submission of the 

information collection to OMB. 

DATES: To ensure consideration, 

comments regarding this information 

collection must be received on or before 

February 20, 2024. 

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are 

invited to submit written comments by 

any of the following methods. Do not 

submit Confidential Business 

Information or otherwise sensitive or 

protected information. 

• Email: InformationCollection@

uspto.gov. Include ‘‘0651–0075 

comment’’ in the subject line of the 

message. 

• Federal Rulemaking Portal: http://

www.regulations.gov. 

• Mail: Justin Isaac, Office of the 

Chief Administrative Officer, United 

States Patent and Trademark Office, 

P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313– 

1450. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Request for additional information 

should be directed to Rafael Bacares, 

Senior Legal Advisor, Office of Patent 

Legal Administration, United States 

Patent and Trademark Office, P.O. Box 

1450, Alexandria, VA 22313–1450; by 

telephone at 571–272–3276; or by email 

at Rafael.Bacares@uspto.gov with 

‘‘0651–0075 comment’’ in the subject 

line. Additional information about this 

information collection is also available 

at http://www.reginfo.gov under 

‘‘Information Collection Review.’’ 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Abstract 

The Patent Law Treaties 

Implementation Act of 2012 1 (PLTIA) 

amends the patent laws to implement 

the provisions of the Geneva Act of the 

Hague Agreement Concerning 

International Registration of Industrial 

Designs (hereinafter ‘‘Hague 

Agreement’’) in title 1, and the Patent 

Law Treaty 2 (PLT) in title 2. The Hague 

Agreement is an international agreement 

that enables an applicant to file a single 

international design application which 

may have the effect of an application for 

protection for the design(s) in countries 

and/or intergovernmental organizations 

that are Parties to the Hague Agreement 

(the ‘‘Contracting Parties’’) designated in 

the applications. The United States is a 

Contracting Party to the Hague 

Agreement, which took effect with 

respect to the United States on May 13, 

2015. The Hague Agreement is 

administrated by the International 

Bureau (IB) of the World Intellectual 

Property Organization (WIPO) located in 

Geneva, Switzerland. 

Under the Hague Agreement, U.S. 

applicants can file international design 

applications in English ‘‘indirectly’’ 

through the United States Patent and 

Trademark Office (USPTO), which will 

forward the applications to the IB or 

‘‘directly’’ with the IB. An international 

design application is subject to the 

payment of three types of fees: (1) a 

basic fee, (2) a publication fee, and (3) 

in respect of each Contracting Party 

where protection is sought, either in a 

standard or an individual designation 

fee. All applications are subject to a 

three-level structure of standard fees, 

which reflects the level of examination 

carried out by the Office of a 

Contracting Party. Also, an additional 

fee is required where the application 

contains a description that exceeds 100 

words. In addition, a transmittal fee is 

required for international design 

applications filed through an office of 

indirect filing. Thus, international 

design applications filed through the 

USPTO as an Office of indirect filing are 

subject to payment of a transmittal fee 

for processing and forwarding the 

international design applications to the 

IB. The fees required by the IB may be 

paid either directly to the IB or through 

the USPTO as an office of indirect filing 


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